Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has proposed a tax override and two debt exclusions, each of which, if approved by voters, will increase Newton’s property taxes to fund the purposes associated with each. (The Mayor also proposed exemptions to mitigate the effects of these tax increases on economically vulnerable taxpayers.) Newton voters…
Posts published by “Bruce Henderson”
Last Thursday, the West Suburban YMCA held the grand opening for its second facility — a complete renovation of the former Boston Sports Club facility at 135 Wells Avenue. WSYMCA board chair Aaron Goldman described his first tour of the two years ago — and the modernization and transformation that…
Board members of the Newton News Foundation — Burton Glass, Aaron Goldman, Matt Hills, Joe Hunter, Rhanna Kidwell, Anne Larner, and Alan Schlesinger — announced on December 15 that the foundation’s online news service, Newton Beacon, will launch in mid-January — at first with limited scope focused on Mayor Fuller’s…
On December 8, the Planning Department held an online Village Center Zoning Input Session to hear feedback, receive comments, and answer questions related to the proposed zoning map for Newtonville. Over 140 residents attended the meeting. The Planning Department summarized public comments in real-time in notes appended to a map…
A group of climate action advocates in Newton, led by Mothers Out Front/Newton, is asking the City Council’s Public Facilities Committee for more transparency about National Grid’s gas-pipeline-replacement projects and for gas-leak repairs that are less disruptive, trenchless, lower-cost, yet as-safe. The group is concerned that Committee has been permitting…
In October, the Newton Cemetery & Arboretum (NC&A) sent a letter to the City Council’s Programs & Services Committee requesting exemption from Newton’s Tree Preservation Ordinance (TPO) – both in the current form of the ordinance and under either of two proposed revisions to it (one by the City Council…
On Saturday, November 12, 80 students — from Oak Hill, Brown, F.A. Day, Bigelow, Bowen, Zervas, Memorial-Spaulding, and some private schools — gathered at Newton South High School for M Snake, a new, friendly mathematics competition created and run by NSHS students. For most participants, this was their first experience with math…
The day before Thanksgiving, The Rotary Club of Newton (motto: “Service Above Self”) delivered over 100 freshly baked pies to Newton Police Headquarters, every Newton Fire Department station, and families associated with the West Suburban YMCA and the Newton Boys and Girls Club. The pies were provided by Marie Presti,…
Newton’s Winter Overnight Parking Ban is scheduled to start on December 1, banning parking for longer than one hour on city streets 2AM-6AM. The fine for each violation is $25. In recent years, during the state’s Covid emergency, the Mayor was able to lift the ban and did so (except…
On Saturday, over one hundred friends and family of 12-year-old Eytani Ganot gathered at his West Newton home to celebrate the surprise granting of his wish — to go on the new, one-of-a-kind Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World Resort. In 2012, Eytani was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare muscle disorder,…
Early in the pandemic, Massachusetts established rules to facilitate outdoor dining, and those rules are set to expire in March 2023. (See Newton’s restaurant guidelines.) The Charles River Regional Chamber has started a petition in support of making the outdoor-dining rules permanent, at least on the local level, and the petition currently has over…
The Newton Public Schools Superintendent Search Committee is conducting focus groups — both in-person and virtual — with both NPS parents/guardians and members of the overall Newton community. Topics to be covered include: Each focus group is one hour. There are several dates and times available November 17-20 for individuals…